The present disclosure relates to improvements to the monitoring of storage devices, and relates more particularly to monitoring the performance of storage devices to identify slow or underperforming storage devices.
Solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard-disk drives (HDDs) are two common types of storage devices. A drive is a type of electronic storage device, and the terms drive and storage device may be used interchangeably for the purposes of this disclosure. Drives are commonly employed in a wide variety of computing applications requiring various types and amounts of electronic data storage. Over time, drives have generally become smaller, faster, and more storage-dense over time.
However, even precision-made, stable, and properly maintained drives can still be subject to performance degradation and/or failure from time to time. Each drive can be tested and profiled, a procedure sometimes referred to as benchmarking, at various times to diagnose reduced performance and/or functionality. Benchmarking tends to be time and resource consuming, often requiring that the drive being tested be temporarily removed from production use. These drawbacks can apply even if it is ultimately determined that the drive is performing optimally. Therefore, there is a desire to more efficiently monitor and maintain drive performance.